Ultimate Ten Lifetimes
by Curiositykils
Summary: Sequel to Penultimate Ten Minutes. Complete.


_Well here's the sequel you've been waiting for. I'll let you know my thoughts at the bottom. Enjoy. _

ooo

Hermione took in a deep breath. This was it. It had been six years since she last saw him and today was the day she would find out the truth from him once and for all.

Ever since Harry had told her of the new evidence they'd discovered it felt like she'd been living in some kind of limbo world.

Every ounce of anger and confusion she'd spent years burrowing deep inside her had erupted and was back in full force.

She wasn't sure if she wanted it to be true or not. If it wasn't, she would be facing the man who betrayed her once again. The years she'd spent deleting every memory and feeling connected to Draco Malfoy would be wasted. She would have to start the process over again.

Oh Merlin but if it was true…Hermione felt the sting of tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away with the tissue she'd brought with her. She had come prepared this time.

If it was true…

"Miss Granger?" asked the burly guard next too her.

Hermione glanced at him and her mind vaguely questioned if all the guards at Azkaban where burly. Her wondering was halted as her eyes swept over his heavy built face and she realised his eyes were fixed on her. She quickly took in another deep breath, wiped her eyes with the tissue before she shoved it up her sleeve.

If it wasn't true she didn't want to show him that he still affected her.

"I'm ready." Hermione said. The guard opened the door and she walked in.

Draco's head lifted as he heard the door clank open and this time his face didn't mask the surprise and shock he felt.

He sat there staring at the figure illuminated in the doorway. His mind instantly dismissed the reality of the situation but his eyes were still fixed intently on her form.

Draco forced himself not to blink. He had spent nearly every second of his time thinking about her and sometimes if he thought hard enough he even hallucinated her presence. She would appear in his dark cell and hold him against her small body.

It was only when his own arms came to cling onto her and found air that he would snap out of his daze and she would disappear.

Draco had since learnt to simply feel and not touch.

As Draco gazed at her from where she stood nervously in front of him, he rejoiced. Never before had she seemed so real. Slowly as the years passed by the very details he'd promised to remember forever had slipped and faded out of his mind.

It was on these days that he succumbed and cried. It felt like he was losing her all over again.

Draco immediately stopped this train of thought. He hadn't forgotten because here she was. In all her beautiful glory.

The shade of brown he'd thought he'd forgotten was back on her head. The angle of the tilt in her eyes was back. Everything was back.

Hermione saw him sitting in the middle of the room just like the last time she'd seen him. She walked to the chair on the other side of the table and sat down quickly, her eyes fixed on him.

A tear slipped out of her eye as she looked at him. Merlin, what had Azkaban done to him? His blonde hair was long and hung limp; greasy and dirt filled. The cheekbones that had once defined his chiselled face protruded horribly. His eyes were dull and underneath there were deep black circles marring his perfect skin.

The man in front of her was most definitely not Draco Malfoy. Azkaban had taken away the man she loved, the man she _had_ loved and replaced him with a hollow skeleton.

"Shout when you're done Miss. You have ten minutes." Hermione didn't spare the guard a glance. The door shut with a loud clang.

It was just the two of them. Hermione spoke.

"Malfoy." Her voice came out weak and hoarse and she cleared her throat. She ignored the look of confusion on Draco's face.

Draco heard his Angel speak his name and his eyebrows furrowed. Why was she calling him by his last name? She had always lovingly called him Draco. He hesitated; telling his mind to make her call him Draco meant she might go away.

He saw his Angel open her mind to speak again and he held his breath wanting to listen to the way her tongue formed her words.

"How are y-" Hermione stopped mid sentence realizing how stupid her question was. Of course he wasn't good. One glance at him and even a blind man could see that.

Hermione cleared her throat again. She wondered why he hadn't spoken yet. Didn't he care on why she was here? After six years apart.

"I'm here because…because I want to know the truth." She said.

Draco smiled. "You already know the truth." It was the first thing he'd said to her when he had first seen her. He'd explained everything to her and she had forgiven him before she'd held him in her warm arms.

Hermione froze. She should have known that it wasn't true. But it still didn't make any sense. Why had he written all those things about her in his journal?

"It doesn't make sense!" Hermione said in an unintentionally loud voice.

Draco backed away from her slowly. This wasn't his Hermione. His Hermione would never shout at him. She'd forgiven him.

"Why did you write all those things in your journal? If your plan had been successful, if you hadn't been discovered in battle then there would have been no need to write about how much you loved me! How much you would have given up protecting me. Why?" Hermione demanded.

Draco furrowed his eyes. It seemed like this Hermione had forgotten everything he'd told her. It mattered not, he would simply tell her again and then they could finally get around to the holding.

"You don't remember Angel?" he said.

Hermione's eyes showed her confusion. He hadn't ever called her Angel before. "Remember what?"

Draco smiled. "The truth. I told you years ago. Remember? I was going to go into battle in my Death Eater robes and kill anyone who harmed you. If the battle was won I could be with you freely and if it was lost I could take you as a victory trophy and keep you safe."

Hermione eyes widened and the breath caught in her throat. For ten seconds there was nothing but silence as she stared at the man sitting in front of her.

It was only ten seconds before her mind registered what he'd said and the sobs came tearing out of her throat and leaking out of her eyes.

Oh Merlin, it was true!

All this time! Guilt constricted her chest and she bent over in her chair to alleviate the pain.

Draco watched in alarm as his angel broke down. His hand reached out to comfort her but it hovered half way to her shoulder. If he touched her she would disappear. He quickly retrieved his hand and placed it in his lap.

"Why didn't you tell me? Oh Merlin, why didn't you tell me? I could have done something! I-I thought, I thought you hated me. I-I" Hermione choked on her words and found she couldn't say anymore.

Draco shook his head in bewilderment. "You really don't remember. I told you years ago."

Hermione's head snapped up to face him. "What?!" Her mind quickly whizzed over their last meeting even though she knew his words to be false. "You never told me this."

Draco saw the desperate pain in her eyes and knew he couldn't hold off touching her in comfort anymore. Instead he gave her a kind smile as she waited for his words. "Angel…It's okay that you forgot. It's okay. Because I already know you forgive me. You whisper it to me every time you visit me and hold me."

Hermione stared at Draco and she felt her heart breaking. Azkaban had killed him. Even if it was true, no trial would accept the word of a mad man. The thought of him spending the next nine years in this horrible place when he was innocent caused renewed sobs to break out of her chest.

"Oh Draco."

Draco watched as his Angel broke down again. He was beginning to not like this Hermione. She didn't remember anything and she was crying. He had told himself that she wouldn't cry over him anymore.

He knew what he had to do. His eyes swept over the planes of her face and body. This time, he made sure to take extra time to linger over those features he had forgotten so easily. And then he stood. At his side, his hands clenched into fists in resolve. He needed to do this, for the both of them.

He moved over to her hunched, trembling form and swept her up in his arms, pulling her into his body.

He touched her.

She didn't disappear.

Her tiny hands moved until she was anchored and wrapped around him tightly. Oh sweet Merlin, Draco could feel her soft body pressed up against him. It had been so long.

For a few seconds Draco could do nothing apart from run his hands through her hair and breathe in her scent. It was only when the guard shouted out that they had two minutes left that his world righted.

She hadn't disappeared. Why hadn't she disappeared? She always disappeared when he touched her.

Hermione too heard the guard call out the time they had left and she pulled herself together. She leaned back so she could look at Draco's face. He was looking at her strangely but there was something flickering in his eyes.

"Hermione?" he whispered.

She nodded her head and her palms moved to rest on his face.

"It's me Draco."

Draco shook his head. This couldn't be happening. He was dreaming a cruel dream. His hands fell from around her but she still didn't disappear.

Hermione held onto him tightly. "I'm really here." She could see the internal struggle occurring behind Draco's eyes.

"Draco?" No response. She did the only thing she could think of. She kissed him.

It wasn't a loving kiss. It wasn't a passionate kiss. It was a hard pressing together of lips. And it worked. Draco was brought back to reality and his arms once more wrapped around her in order to pull her tighter still, into his bruised body.

"Oh Draco. Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione asked.

Draco closed his eyes at the question. "I was a Death Eater Hermione. I hurt people. I crucioed them and Avada'd them. I need to atone for my punishments. I need to be a man who deserves your love."

Hermione pulled back. "You are!" she shouted in a hoarse voice. "You do deserve my love."

"I was selfish. I am selfish. I wanted you despite the fact that I knew I would corrupt you. Despite the fact I knew how hard your life would be with me in it. I'm still the same selfish man."

"Then I'm a selfish woman." Hermione replied.

Draco's lips turned upwards to form a cynical smile. "You Angel, could never be selfish."

Hermione wrenched herself from his arms. Why didn't he understand?!

"No! I am selfish. I want you with me always. I need you with me always. These last few years have been horrible. I need you. You've spent enough time in here to atone for whatever punishments you think you may need."

The door clanged open and the guard stepped inside. "Time's up."

Hermione felt her throat tighten but she forced the sobs and cries to stay there, contained. She looked into Draco's eyes unwaveringly.

"I'm going to get you out of here." She said strongly.

Draco looked at her and said nothing. He wished she didn't make such a promise that she surely would not be able to keep, for it gave him false hope, but he said nothing.

Three steps later and she was by the guard who was getting ready to show her the way out.

"Wait." Came his strangled voice.

Hermione turned around quickly. Draco said nothing so she made the move. She walked over to him quickly and this time the kiss was loving and passionate. She pulled back only when she heard the guard clearing his throat.

"I'll always be waiting for you. Always!" she said to him fiercely. "I love you Draco Malfoy." She whispered.

And those were the words Draco had waited so long to here. His chest panged and his eyes cried.

Hermione moved her hands to wipe away his tears. "Please don't cry. I love you."

It was the final thing she said before she walked out of the door.

ooo

**Two Months Later**

Draco looked at the sleeping bundle in his arms. He couldn't sleep. The bed was too soft and the covers too stifling. He resisted the urge to throw them off the bed. She would be cold without them and if that was the case then he could live with being suffocated by the weight.

His mind replayed the many events that had occurred throughout the day.

There had been his trial, where he'd been able to see his Angel for the first time in two months. There had been his exoneration.

There had been the quick trip to Malfoy Manor to get what remained of his belongings. It was here that Hermione had told him what had happened to his parents. He had been sad about his mother but he was glad she had done what she did. She had escaped the cruelty of Azkaban and for that he was thankful. She was at peace now.

Then there had been the welcoming into Hermione's home. She was nervous, he could tell. Her home was small but so light and open. It was exactly what he wanted. What he needed to forget about his dark cell.

There had been their quiet dinner. He couldn't eat very much. He had been told by the Healers that he should introduce solid foods back into his body slowly. A mere few mouthfuls of pasta and his stomach had clenched in pain.

And finally there had been the most recent event. Their almost lovemaking. Draco closed his eyes in shame at the image. Seeing and touching Hermione's pliant body in such a long time had sent his own control out of the window. He'd been so embarrassed he'd turned away from her. What woman wanted a broken man who couldn't even please her?

Apparently Hermione.

She had turned him back to face her and whispered soothing words to him. She had told him that it was okay and that all she wanted was for him to hold her as she fell asleep. So that's what he had done.

As she shifted her body and settled herself more firmly in his arms he breathed in her scent and he felt the initial stirrings of excitement and arousal wash over him again. He forced himself to stay in control and was surprised when his body listened.

He closed his eyes and told himself to stop worrying. He had ten lifetimes to show his Angel how much he loved her.

Nothing but death would part the two of them now. He didn't care if he was being selfish. She was finally all his.

ooo

_Author's Note: So what did you think. If I'm honest I prefer Penultimate Ten Minutes and I think that's the reason why it took me such a long time to write the sequel because everything I wrote seemed rubbish compared to that. I seriously considered just leaving it as an unhappy ending but wasn't quite looking forward to the fire and pitchforks that would have inevitably come my way. I also promised a sequel so here it is. Now that I'm here I might as well advertise my new story Deceit. If you haven't already read it please go and do so when you get some free time. Happy New Year and until next time, Curiositykils. _


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